As
the rain pours down you find yourself swimming in zombie infested waters.

An
abandoned police car. Wonder what happened to the cops?

An
underwater view of the hydroelectric plant.

Using
the cool new sniper rifle to take out some zombies.

Welcome
to the land of eternal night, where the average cop on the street, your
local neighbor in town, that pretty woman and new mother have all mutated
into shuffling, wailing, undead zombies who crave your living flesh.
Welcome to 'They Hunger', Neil Manke's latest adventure set in the gameplay
world of Half-Life.

Neilhas
transported us far from the technological world that was USS
Darkstar (his first release for Half-Life) and has dropped us right
into the middle of a grotesque horror film. Think of the zombie film 'Night
of The Living Dead' by George A. Romero and you get the idea. Ask any
person who attempts to create horror in any medium and you will usually
get the same answer, "It's very, very difficult to do." Why? Because you
walk a very fine line between frightening and campy, between truly scary
and just plain silly. Thankfully Neil has pulled it off and has created
an absolutely chilling and frightening 16 level set.

So what
makes 'They Hunger' such a horrific success? Let us count the ways;1) Compelling
Story Line - As short as it is you are presented with a mystery, something
very bad and very recent has happened to this town. Through Neil's written
introduction, game intro/exit, and ever present radio bulletins, you set
out to solve this mystery.2) Compelling
Visuals - Neil's excellent settings featuring the mausoleum and crypts,
the choice of making this a dark 'at night episode', and the creepy models
and monster skins all blend to create a very real horrific world.3) Sound
- If this was the oscars 'They Hunger' would certainly be up for an
award in the best sound category. The voice acting is spot on here, from
the haunting 'Why do we hunger?' to 'Where are you?,' it's enough to make
your skin crawl. The excellent sound is at least half of the experience,
the visuals being the other. Also memorable is that weird tune that is
heard from time to time. No, you won't be able to rush out and buy it at
your local CD store, that was edited together by Manke from various snippets
of middle eastern music found on the net to create one unique song.4) Gameplay
- The above would mean nothing if there was not also an exciting gameplay
experience to be found here. The close and personal style of combat with
the disturbing zombies, particularly in the early levels are very intense
and may genuinely frighten less mature gamers. There is nothing like being
armed with only a crowbar and then to be surrounded by these shuffling
mutants!5) Special
Effects - The rain, the scripted sequences, the outstanding sniper
rifle (worth the download time itself), the cinematic underwater visuals,
collapsing walkways, police car and train interactivity, all combine to
elevate this level above the ordinary, far above.

They Hunger
is
yet another notch on Neil Manke's creative belt. It also marks the darker
side of Manke, a macabre underbelly that was hinted at in previous levels...but
has now been fully unleashed. Beware!